Cloth Diaper Questions!

Dear T.,

I absolutely loved the Bum Genius 3.0 all-in-one, one-size diapers. I bought 36 of them, in groups of 12 (so I could get the lowest price) from Nikki's Diapers online. I started with disposables right after my son came home, because of the meconium I felt would stain the diapers. We used them until he was 5 months old - I washed about every 3 days and we NEVER had a blow-out, only rarely had a pee leak when the insert wasn't in properly. The reason we had to come off them is that my son has VERY large legs, and the diapers were beginning to bind. At 6 months old he is about 22 pounds - not obese, just large (he looks 9 months, wears 9 month clothes too.) His upper thighs were just too big, and the elastic was cutting into his skin. But I loved the diapers, and was very sad to part with them.

Don't feel guilty about using formula, because it sounds from your post as though you've thought it through and made a decision based on your circumstances, which is all any of us can ever do. I had to do a bit of both (long story) and felt terrible - and guess what? My teenagers are now lean, healthy, and love their junk food. We don't live in a perfect world, as much as we'd wish that for our children, and the sooner we understand that the better for us and our children. Moving on.....

Maybe try a diaper service for those first few weeks? It will give you a break on the laundry when you most need it and let you try out cloth diapers without buying too much. Myself, when I used them, I liked the velcro diaper cover style. But I'm sure there's even more out there now!

E.

Try Cottontail Baby. They have a website, cottontailbaby.com, and they have a store in Clearwater. We switched to cloth when our son was about 10mo. He is now 13mo. Love cloth. We use prefolds with snappi's and covers. We also use a flushable/biodegradable liner to catch the poop. Some still soaks through, but it usually makes for easier clean up. We bought some fuzzibunz (pocket diapers) for the grandparents/other babysitters to use. They snap on in one easy step. We use our prefolds folded in thirds in the fuzzibunz instead of inserts. We bought the prefolds and covers from cottontail baby and the fuzzibunz from other people (like on Craigs list). If you have anymore questions check the website for Cottontail baby or send me a message. And let me just add, that most of my sons 6-9mo shorts only fit because of the cloth diaper, they are loose with regular diapers.

Hi T.,

I use Thirsties All-In-One Pocket diaper. It's not the cheapest but they are so convient and easy to use! I bought mine from www.diaperdiggs.com, they had the best price. I stuff the pocket for overnight use. If you put them on your registry people could buy you gift certificates, that way you won't have to pay for them.
-N.

I love the Bum Genius diapers because they are one-size-fits- all. They have snaps in the front the change the rise and velcro closed. I love them because I use 2 inserts at night and only one during the day, so I can use the same diapers with just different inserts instead of having to worry about bulking up for the night time. The Bum Genius diapers come with a small and large inserts when you get them and normally run $17.95 a piece. I get mine from Cottontail Baby in Clearwater. They do have some sort of package deal if you buy 3 or more. They do have a website and you can order from them online, or call in an order and go pick it up. They usually have just one person working at a time, as it is a small shop, but they are all very knowlegable and I have gotten very good advice when I need it from them! I also suggest using the rice paper liners. They look almost like a fabric softener sheet, but it's flushable and you put is as a barrier between the baby's bottom and the diaper, so if they poop, it limits the necessity to clean the diaper off and you can just flush it! Let me know if you have any questions. I started a few months ago with my now 9 month old son and love it.

Try Gdiapers, these are flushable or disintegrate really fast, and the parts that hold the actual diaper only need to be washed every other day if you have several,and only if it got too wet or is a poopy diaper. Its hard to explain, but they have a velcro fastener of the actual diaper, interesting concept. Not cheap but cheaper on the long run, I haven't try them myself but if I did not have a septic tank (cannot wash too often, or flush them) I would have gone for them. www.gdiapers.com

We got the Happy Heinys one size although we haven't had a chance to use them yet (baby isn't due until October). Looking at them online I would have gotten the Bum Genius but once I saw them in person (we took a field trip to Cotton Tail Babies in Clearwater) the Happy Heinys won me over because they expand to a larger size and it seemed like it was going to get the insert out without having to reach into the diaper like you might have to with the Bum Genius ones. Also, not that it's terribly important, I liked the Happy Heinys color selection better too.
If it's feasible go to Cotton Tail Babies, look around and talk to the staff (they were SO helpful). Like I said, looking at the diapers online I would have made a different decision than the one that I made with the diapers in question actually right there.
Here's a link to a site about detergents too:
http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

Hi T., I started with a Starter Pack of "Bummis" brand. You can buy Bummis and a variety of other brands from this site: http://www.mommasbaby.com/. The starter pack had 6 covers (velcro-closures) sized 8-15 lbs and 30 cloth diapers and cost $150. My son is approaching 7 months and he is long out of his first set of covers. I then ordered four new covers in the size 15-30 lbs for approx $10 each and still use the 30 cloth diapers. I only need to wash diapers every other day and they have already paid for themselves. I am happy with them. I recently read about "G Diapers" though. You may want to check them out. From what I read, it sounds like they will save you from a lot of washing and they are still environmentally friendly. I am guilty of using an occassional disposable during the day on weekends (when we are out running errands etc) and at night. Since he started to sleep longer at night, I use a disposable as his night time diaper to keep more of the wetness away from his skin. I use Seventh Generation Diapers. They are one of only two brands that I could find that are chlorine free. You can buy them in bulk from Amazon or as a single package at Babies R Us. Good luck.